Riyad as-Salihin: The Book of the Etiquette of Sleeping, Lying and Sitting etc

Whenever Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) went to bed, he would lie down on his right side and recite: "Allahumma aslamtu nafsi ilaika, wa wajjahtu wajhi ilaika, wa fawwadtu amri ilaika, wa 'alja'tu zahri ilaika, raghbatan wa rahbatan ilaika, la malja'a wa la manja illa ilaika. Amantu bikitabikal-ladhi anzalta, wa nabiyyikal-ladhi arsalta [O Allah! I have submitted myself to You, I have turned my face to You, committed my affairs to You, and depend on You for protection out of desire for You and out of fear of You (expecting Your reward and fearing Your punishment). There is no refuge and no place of safety from You but with You. I believed in the Book You have revealed, and in the Prophet You have sent (i.e., Muhammad (ﷺ)).]"

[Al-Bukhari] .

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) directed me thus: "Whenever you go to bed, perform Wudu' as you do for Salat then (before sleeping) recite: 'O Allah! I have submitted myself to You, I have turned myself to You, committed my affairs to You and sought Your refuge for protection out of desire for You and fear of You (expecting Your reward and fearing Your punishment). There is no refuge and no place of safety from You but with You. I believe in the Book You have revealed and in the Prophet (ﷺ) You have sent."' Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) added: "If anyone recites these words and dies during the night, he will die on the true Deen, and if he remains alive till the morning, he will obtain good. And make this supplication your last words (before sleeping)."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim] .

The Prophet (ﷺ) used to offer eleven Rak'ah of optional Salat (prayers) in the latter part of night. When it was about dawn, he would offer two short Rak'ah and then would lie down on his right side till the Mu'adhdhin (one who calls for prayer) would come to inform him that the congregation had gathered (for prayer).

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim] .

Whenever the Prophet (ﷺ) lay down for sleep at night, he would place his (right) hand under his (right) cheek and supplicate: "Allahumma bismika amutu wa ahya [O Allah, with Your Name will I die and live (wake up)]." And when he woke up, he would supplicate: "Al-hamdu lillahil-ladhi ahyana ba'da ma amatana, wa ilaihin-nushur (All praise is due to Allah, Who has brought us back to life after He has caused us to die, and to Him is the return)."

[Al-Bukhari] .

My father said: I was lying down on my belly in the mosque when someone shook me with his foot and said, "Lying down this way is disapproved by Allah." I looked up and saw that it was Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).

[Abu Dawud] .

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Whoever sits in a place where he does not remember Allah (SWT), he will suffer loss and incur displeasure of Allah; and whoever lies down (to sleep) in a place where he does not remember Allah, he will suffer sorrow and incur displeasure of Allah."

[Abu Dawud] .

I saw Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) lying down on his back in the mosque, placing one leg on the other.

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim] .

After the Fajr (dawn) prayer the Prophet (ﷺ) used to sit crossed legged in the same place in which he had prayed till the sun shone brightly.

[Abu Dawud] .

I saw Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sitting in the compound of the Holy Ka'bah, with the thighs against the stomach and arms around his legs.

[Al- Bukhari] .

I saw the Prophet (ﷺ) seated with his arms enfolding his legs; and when I saw him in such a state of humble guise I trembled with fear due to the awe (he showed in that posture).

[Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi] .

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) passed by me when I was sitting with my left hand behind my back and leaning on my palm. On seeing me in this posture he said, "Do you sit like those upon whom the Wrath of Allah has descended?"

[Abu Dawud] .

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Do not ask someone to give up his seat in order to take it, but make accommodation wide and sit at ease." It was Ibn 'Umar's habit that if a person left his seat for him, he would not take it.

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim] .

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "If someone leaves his seat (for one reason or another) and returns to it, he is better entitled to it."

[Muslim] .

Whenever we came to the gathering of the Prophet, we would sit down at the end (of the assembly).

[Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi] .

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "If a man takes a bath on Friday, purifies himself thoroughly, uses oil and perfume which is available in the house, sets forth for the mosque, does not (forcibly) sit between two persons, offers the prayer that is prescribed for him and listens to the Imam silently, his sins between this Friday and the previous Friday will be forgiven."

[Al- Bukhari] .

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "It is not permissible for a man to separate between two [people] without their permission."

[Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi] .

And in a version narrated by Abu Dawud "He should not sit between two men without their permission."

The Messenger of Allah curses the one who sits in the middle of people's circle.

[Abu Dawud] .

A man sat in the middle of a circle so Hudhaifah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: Cursed upon the tongue of Muhammad (ﷺ) or [he said] Allah has cursed upon the tongue of Muhammad (ﷺ) he who sits in the middle of the circle [of a gathering].

[At-Tirmidhi] .

I heard Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying "The best assemblies are those in which people make room for one another."

[Abu Dawud] .

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Whoever sits in a gathering and indulges in useless talk and before getting up supplicates: 'Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, ash-hadu an la ilaha illa Anta, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilaika (O Allah, You are free from every imperfection; praise be to You. I testify that there is no true god except You; I ask Your Pardon and turn to You in repentance),' he will be forgiven for (the sins he may have intentionally or unintentionally committed) in that assembly."

[At-Tirmidhi] .

Towards the end of his life, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would supplicate before leaving an assembly thus: "Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, ash-hadu an la ilaha illa Anta, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilaika (O Allah, You are free from every imperfection; all praise is for You. I testify that there is no true god except You, I ask Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance).'' A man once said to him: "O Messenger of Allah! You have spoken such words as you have never uttered before.'' He said, "It is an expiation of that which goes on in the assembly.''

[Abu Dawud and Al-Hakim] .

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) seldom left a gathering without supplicating in these terms: "Allahumma-qsim lana min khashyatika ma tahulu bihi bainana wa baina ma'sika, wa min ta'atika ma tuballighuna bihi jannataka, wa minal-yaqini ma tuhawwinu 'alaina masa-'ibad-dunya. Allahumma matti'na biasma'ina, wa absarina, wa quwwatina ma ahyaitana, waj'alhul-waritha minna, waj'al tharana 'ala man zalamana, wansurna 'ala man 'adana, wa la taj'al musibatana fi dinina, wa la taj'alid-dunya akbara hammina, wa la mablagha 'ilmina, wa la tusallit 'alaina man-la yarhamuna, (O Allah, apportion to us such fear as should serve as a barrier between us and acts of disobedience; and such obedience as will take us to Your Jannah; and such as will make easy for us to bear in the calamities of this world. O Allah! let us enjoy our hearing, our sight and our power as long as You keep us alive and make our heirs from our own offspring, and make our revenge restricted to those who oppress us, and support us against those who are hostile to us let no misfortune afflict our Deen; let not worldly affairs be our principal concern, or the ultimate limit of our knowledge, and let not those rule over us who do not show mercy to us)."

[At- Tirmidhi] .

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Those people who leave a gathering in which they have not remembered Allah, will conclude it as if it has foul odour similar to that of a rotten carcass of a donkey. And it will be a cause of grief to them."

[Abu Dawud] .

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Whenever a group of people sit in a gathering in which they do not remember Allah the Exalted, nor supplicate to elevate the rank of their Prophet, such a gathering will be a cause of grief to them. If Allah wills, He will punish them, and if He wills He will forgive them."

[At-Tirmidhi] .

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "If anyone sits in a gathering where he does not remember Allah, he will bring grief upon himself (on the Day of Resurrection), and he who lies down in a place where he does not remember Allah, will bring grief upon himself (on the Day of Resurrection)."

[Abu Dawud] .

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "All that is left from Prophethood is the glad tidings." He was asked what the glad tidings were, and he said, "The good dream."

[Al-Bukhari] .

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "When the time draws near (i.e., near the end of the world), the dream of a believer can hardly be false; and the dream of a believer represents one part from forty-six parts of Prophethood."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim] .

One narration says: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "The most truthful of you in their speech are those who see the truest visions."

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "He who sees me in his dream will see me in his wakefulness (or he (ﷺ) may have said it is as though he has seen me in a state of wakefulness), for Satan does not appear in my form."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim ] .

I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "When one of you sees a dream that he likes, then it is from Allah. He should praise Allah for it and relate it to (others)."

Another narration adds: Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said, "He should not report it except to those whom he loves. And if he sees one which he dislikes, then it is from the Satan. He should seek refuge in Allah against its evil and should not mention it to anyone. Then it will not harm him."

[Al- Bukhari and Muslim] .

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "A good vision (dream) is from Allah and a bad dream is from the Satan. He who sees something in a dream that he dislikes, should blow thrice on his left, must seek Allah's Refuge from the evil of the Satan (i.e., by saying: A'udhu billahi minash-Shaitanir-Rajim). Then it will not harm him."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim] .

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "When one of you sees a bad dream let him blow three times on his left, seek refuge in Allah from the Satan three times (i.e., by saying: A'udhu billahi minash-Shaitanir-Rajim) and change the side on which he was lying."

[Muslim] .

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Of the worst lies are: to claim a false father, or to pretend to have seen what one has not seen (tell a false dream), or to attribute to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) what he has not said."

[Al-Bukhari] .